


Gainful Employment

by PhantomEngineer



Series: Part-Time Snake [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: M/M, set in Japan, unconventional job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 03:41:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18086762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomEngineer/pseuds/PhantomEngineer
Summary: After the events of Infinity War, not being quite as dead as initially assumed and reuniting with Thor in an awkward truce with far too much left unspoken, Loki gets a job.





	Gainful Employment

Thor supposed that really he should have returned to New York and his floor in Avengers’ Tower. At the same time, there wasn’t really any need. Avenging was a world-wide duty, and he had Stormbreaker to fly anywhere he was needed. Tony’s technology had penetrated the most impenetrable places on Earth, so no matter where he went there was no chance of him losing contact. 

He was also somewhat glad to not be present while Steve and Tony awkwardly worked out their issues. He had managed to avoid being involved in the big fight that left the rest of the group with strained relationships, but even if he hadn’t fallen out with anyone and fought (nor indeed did he quite understand the issue as he had fought with Loki plenty of times but he hadn’t let it get in the way of their love) he could still feel the tension in the air. When faced with a common enemy, the Avengers had put aside their differences to focus on the battle. Once the battle was won, they were back to tentatively restoring alliances and dealing with the nightmare of fine print. 

Most importantly, Loki refused to leave. Thor suspected it was because Loki was stubborn and liked causing difficulties. Another part of him suspected it was because Thor banged his head on doorways in Japan, and Loki had always found things like that entertaining. It wasn’t the heads being banged element as such, more that it was Thor.

With a somewhat resigned sigh, he started spreading out his futon. A detail that he might not have opted to were it his choice alone, but Loki with his stubborn desire to cause trouble had insisted. Loki of course could do it all in a wave of his hand, but Loki had vanished away for the day leaving Thor to wonder if he would return. He knew that clinging too hard to Loki would only drive him away, damage the fragile truce and relationship that they were rebuilding, so Thor quietly laid out Loki’s futon as well. Side by side, closer every night as though that meant anything. As though Loki wasn’t perfectly capable of stabbing Thor in the back while hugging him. As though Thor hadn’t already made the choice to simply trust Loki no matter how much he also suspected it to be a bad idea.

Loki materialised on his prepared futon, as though summoned by Thor doing his work for him. Thor suspected it also might be connected to his claim earlier in the week that “doors are for mortals” which Thor suspected was going to be hard for the staff at the local shops to deal with. Not that Loki ever paid. Thor had taken to simply giving money to random shops in the hope that he was paying back some of Loki’s debts. The money came from the Avengers’ fund, which was mainly financed by Tony, so that made Loki especially happy.

“Where have you been?” Thor asked, wincing immediately at the accusatory tone that came out.

Loki ignored him in favour of magically transforming his clothing to more sleep appropriate wear. He curled up under the covers, and Thor was touched to note that he seemed to remain æsir.

The light went out, which was entirely Loki using his magic. Thor could also put the lights out by using his particular talents, but that generally involved electrifying the air and overloading the breaker and so was less practical. It also included blowing the lightbulbs up on occasion, so he tended to use the light switch.

Thor fumbled his way through the darkness to his futon, as Loki rarely bothered taking into account his needs when performing such spells. It was all a part of Loki being Loki. When Thor did make his way under his covers, he found that his futon wasn’t entirely empty. Loki had made the logical progression from the growing proximity of their sleeping arrangements.

Cautiously, Thor reached an arm out to wrap it round Loki. They had slept together before, what felt like a long time ago though for them with their long lives it was barely any time at all. It just seemed like it as in that time Thor had grieved Loki’s death three times, they had fought as enemies twice and their home world had been destroyed once. Thor did not want those numbers to increase.

“I got a job,” Loki said quietly, which should have been a normal statement but mostly filled Thor with a whole load of questions. Most of them were “why?” as Loki mostly didn’t seem like the type to really go for employment. He enjoyed stealing and also was flaky, two characteristics that did not tend to lead to permanent long-time employment.

“Why?” Thor asked, which was not really the question he should have been asking. It was the one that came out of his mouth, as he couldn’t picture a career that Loki might go for, aside from possibly fake psychic. He could imagine Loki dressing up in ridiculous clothing and making up elaborate lies to tell people for money, despite the fact that Loki could actually do things like read minds and perform magic. It just seemed to be more likely that Loki would enjoy the lying aspect.

“Because that way I can get money,” Loki explained patiently, as though Thor was a particularly stupid child and as though he didn’t regularly simply steal whatever he wanted, or indeed Tony having an account simply named “Loki related expenses” for Loki related expenses (as Loki, for someone with no actual income, had expensive tastes when other people were paying).

“Right,” Thor said, suspecting that the money would not be going towards their rent, which Tony was paying for anyway as Tony was kind, had a lot of money, and didn’t like being thrown out of windows. “So, what is it?”

“Snake,” Loki answered, wriggling in a manner that was very much akin to a snake.

Thor had no answer to that, so he just allowed Loki to attempt to bury himself in his flesh. There were no sharp objects, so he didn’t mind. He liked it when Loki was close to him and speaking almost openly. 

“I’m a part-time snake at the petting zoo down the road,” Loki clarified, which didn’t really explain anything. All it did was made Thor suspect that down the road some poor innocent people had had Loki walk up to them, possibly in full armour, and ask how much they paid for the position of part-time snake.

“You aren’t going to bite or stab people?” Thor asked, concerned. He felt that it was a valid concern. Loki had regularly done both to him. He didn’t mind too much, but mortals were more easily damaged. He knew that they needed gentle treatment. He also knew that Loki felt less inclined to show them the gentle treatment required.

“Of course not,” Loki protested, “I have my hours, I let people pet me and then I go home. I have a lunch break and everything. You did say I should be making more of an attempt to fit in with the mortals, after all.”

“Hmm…” Thor acknowledged, which was about as much as he could vocalise as Loki had just elbowed him in the stomach. He didn’t think it was intentional, as such. More like an added bonus of Loki twisting about in a manner not entirely dissimilar to a demented eel.

“I’ve had jobs before…” Loki muttered.

“Do you like your work colleagues?” Thor asked, curious. As far as he could tell, Loki didn’t really like anyone. The jury had been out for a long time what Loki’s feelings about Thor were, and Thor still hadn’t quite come to a conclusion. He had, for a long time, assumed he alone was immune to Loki’s generalised dislike of all life. Then he had suffered under the belief that Loki actually hated him rather than merely regarding him with casual disdain. Finally he was beginning to come round to the view that Loki didn’t dislike nearly as broadly as he had initially assumed, and that his regard for Thor might be higher than his insults suggested.

“I think so,” Loki said as though he was admitting a grave secret, the embarrassment clear in his muffled tone. 

“That’s good,” Thor said. He missed, for a moment, the camaraderie that had existed amongst the Avengers in their heyday before issues had spilled over and led to awkwardness. He missed his youth when everything had been full of smiles. Then Loki had changed his appearance according to his whims but he had always known him to be his brother underneath all the cosmetic tricks. It had hurt to have the reverse, to have the outside be so casually and visibly the brother he adored but the inside warped into something he couldn’t recognise. Now he wasn’t entirely sure, Loki being a mystery in part because he had realised that he had never known Loki as well as he had thought he did, and in part because Loki had returned to playing with his form, hiding away in animal shapes but still being himself. 

“I missed you,” he admitted quietly. He did. He had missed Loki. He had missed their closeness even if he wasn’t entirely sure how much had been his own perspective rather than the reality. He had missed Loki through three assumed deaths where there had been no hope for the reunion that had only happened because Loki didn’t die no matter what it looked like from the outside. He might have said more, though aside from finding out what the hourly rate for snakes was, he wasn’t really sure what there was to say. He didn’t really get the chance, for whether Loki intended to distract him or not, he did.

It was a gentle kiss. The sort of thing that hovered in the borderlands of what was appropriate, but what was appropriate no longer really mattered. Light enough, a mere brush of lips so faint that it could have been a mistake. Could be Loki with his usual teasing, just like how Loki had flirted outrageously with Thor when they were younger for nothing more than to make everyone laugh. Thor had laughed too then, and then more often than not sighed privately to himself with the longing wish that it could be more than another way in which Loki messed around and caused chaos. Could be an attempt at brotherly affection. Thor couldn’t help but hope it was something more, that it was a start. That they were rebuilding what could have been rather than what had been.


End file.
